Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
MAC Championships
Eagles Capture 10,000m Title in First Day of MAC Championships
5/10/2018 7:50:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
EMU ranks second place with 43 points after the first day of competition
MAC Championship Day One Results
BUFFALO, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team concluded its first day at the 2018 MAC Outdoor Championships in second place with 43 points, Thursday, May 10 in Buffalo, N.Y.
The first day of action saw four finals in the 10,000m, hammer throw, pole vault, and javelin, along with a handful of preliminaries and five decathlon events.
Redshirt senior Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge) highlighted the day with a victory in the 10,000m, finishing strong with a time of 30:39.87. Redshirt senior Nick Raymond (Erie, Mich.-Erie) also had an impressive race, finishing third in 30:43.85. Rounding out the Eagles in the 10,000m was redshirt senior Lahsene Bouchikhi (Antwerp, Belgium-Stedelijk Lyceum Paardenmarkt Luchthaven), who finished sixth with a mark of 30:56.06. Altogether, the three brought in 19 big points for Eastern. Additionally, with Andresson's first place, EMU has now finished first in the 10,000m in the last three outdoor championships.
Junior Zach Harkey (Huron, Ohio-Huron) won silver in the hammer throw with a distance of 58.47 to reel in Second Team All-MAC honors and set Eastern up with eight points. Redshirt junior Austin Hazek (Medina, Ohio-Medina) and senior Mike Hierholzer (Medina, Ohio-Medina) also nabbed some points for the Green and White in the hammer, with Hazek placing seventh (51.05m) for two points, and Hierholzer finishing eighth (48.42m) for one point.
Junior Derek Ziegenfuss (Allentown, Pa.-Parkland) also brought in a nice chunk of points for his performance in the javelin. The Allentown, Pa. native earned six points with a third-place finish, after throwing to a distance of 62.82m.
All three of EMU's competitors in the 200m dash preliminaries advanced to the championship round, with senior Leighton Antonio (Hudson, Ohio-Hudson) pacing the trio with a fourth-place finish, racing to a personal-record time of 21.18. Freshman Owen Richardson (Basingstoke, England) followed right behind at fifth with a time of 21.25, while freshman Tyler Johnson (Dayton, Ohio-Stivers School for the Arts) placed seventh, clocking in at 21.35.
Eastern had a pair of Eagles compete in the 400m hurdle preliminaries and qualify for the championship heat on Saturday. Junior Elijah Barber (Columbus, Ohio-Eastmoor Academy) claimed sixth place with a personal-best time of 54.75. Originally, teammate sophomore Devonte Findlay (Lauderhill, Fla.-Blanche Ely) just missed out on qualifying after placing ninth with a time of 56.14, however, a disqualification of another runner moved Findlay up to eighth-place, ultimately giving him the last ticket to the final round.
Freshman Skyler Lester (Marietta, Ga.-Marietta) had a strong first day in the decathlon events, finishing the evening in fourth with 3435 points. His highest placement of the day came in the high jump, where he notched a height of 1.97m to place second. He also had outstanding personal performances in the shot put and 400m dash, setting personal-records with a distance of 12.54m and time of 53.18 to finish third in the shot put and ninth in the 400m.
Tomorrow's action gets started at 10:30 a.m. with the second half of the decathlon and heptathlon. The day will also include more preliminaries and the championship rounds of the women's 3000m steeplechase, long jump, shot put, and pole vault, as well as the men's championship 3000m steeplechase, long jump, and shot put.
EMU Individual Results (* Denotes a personal-record)
200m Dash Preliminaries
4. Leighton Antonio 21.18q*
5. Owen Richardson 21.25q
7. Tyler Johnson 21.35q
10,000m Run
1. Hlynur Andresson 30:39.87
3. Nick Raymond 30:43.85
6. Lahsene Bouchikhi 30:56.06
400m Hurdles Preliminaries
7. Elijah Barber 54.75q*
9. Devonte Findlay 56.14
Hammer Throw
2. Zach Harkey 58.47/191-10.00
7. Austin Hazek 51.05/167-06.00*
8. Mike Hierholzer 48.42/158-10.00
Javelin Throw
3. Derek Ziegenfuss 62.82/206-01.00
Pole Vault
4. Colin Etchen 4.97/16-03.50
7. Alex Babits 4.82/15-09.75
Decathlon 100m Dash
6. Skyler Lester 11.49
11. Drew Lament 12.11
Decathlon 400m Dash
9. Skyler Lester 53.18*
11. Drew Lament 53.91
Decathlon Long Jump
9. Skyler Lester 6.02/19-09.00
11. Drew Lament 5.69/18-08.00
Decathlon High Jump
2. Skyler Lester 1.97/06-05.50
4. Drew Lament 1.88/06-02.00
Decathlon Shot Put
2. Drew Lament 12.84/42-01.50
3. Skyler Lester 12.54/41-01.75*
Players Mentioned
